Salvatore's Pizza & Pasta — Restaurant in Hoover

I come from a service industry background so its rare for me to complain. I understand being short staffed and sometimes people just are not oozing rainbows and butterflies. Its normal to be in a bad mood on occasion, but what happened during a late lunch two weekends ago is simply inexcusable. After ordering our meal- I ordered spaghetti and my boyfriend ordered a sandwich. It just after lunch and it was clear that a big crowd had just left. There were several open tables but they all had crumbs on it. We could see they were still catching up and weren't bothered by the mess. I used a napkin and wiped down the two areas on the table in front of us. The girl with pink hair approached our table, and asked it was dirty when we sat down. I replied, yes, but its ok. (She knew it was dirty because she just took our order and watched us sit down.) She then proceeded to spray out table with a cleaning product. She didn't say anything or ask us to get up to clean it. She just started spraying. She sprayed this cleaner all over the tables, the napkins, the red pepper and the parmesan container, and SHE SPRAYED US! The cleaning solution went all into my lap and all over my boyfriend including his face. We were shocked by this. We really hope that was safe to be near our food and on our skin. We later later watched her spray the other tables and got the solution all over the pepper and cheese shakers. YIKES! This girl had short pinkish hair. She wasn't super friendly and someone needs to teach her how to clean. Needless to say, we don't plan on going back there any time soon. (Food was good, but wasn't worth...

I usually only leave reviews for places that are either terrible or absolutely exceptional — and this one definitely deserves to be shared.

I’m at a point in life where I can afford to eat at the “nice” restaurants, but honestly, most of them are just okay — sometimes even bad. Casual places usually disappoint too, so I don’t go often. But today we stopped by Salvatore’s Pizza in Hoover, and I had the cheese ravioli with a side of meatballs.

I’m Italian, and I take my food seriously. I almost never eat Italian food out because it’s rarely as good as what I make at home. But this? This was the best Italian meal I’ve had in ages — better than mine, and definitely better than most of the “fancy” Italian restaurants in Birmingham. It was absolutely amazing.

The flavor, the portions — everything was perfect. Even better, it wasn’t expensive. Three of us ate for what one meal would cost at a high-end place.

Now, the inside isn’t much to talk about — pretty typical if you’re from New York like me — but that just makes it feel authentic. What matters is the food, and wow… I’m already planning my next visit next week.

Highly recommend. You won’t be...

Don't write it off because of my 3 star review. Read on down.

First off, the service was excellent and my food arrived timely. I had the lunch special spaghetti and meat sauce. The pizza and calzones that went by looked wonderful, but I was seeking pasta. I was sort of disappointed.

The pasta itself was not high quality. The sauce was good but not great. The salad was soggy, at least made the day before with what I don't consider traditional Italian dressing, though I'm sure different parts of Italy have different dressings. The garlic bread was a great bread but it was only just over 60% covered with a thin coat of butter with a slight taste of garlic.

If you're looking for pasta and like the actual spaghetti pasta noodle, give them a try. Their marinara and white sauces might be delicious. Consider not ordering the lunch pasta and order a non-side salad if you're looking for greenery.

I gave it a 5 for atmosphere because it reminded very much of my Italian great-aunt's little bistro that's been closed 55 years, though without her red checkered table cloths.

I might try it again lunch time pizza, etc. It's located .3...